


Accidental Baby Acquisition

by calibratingentropy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternate Universe, Developing Relationship, Galra Hunk (Voltron), Hunk And Keith Are Sort-of Brothers, Lactation Kink, M/M, Male Lactation, Mpreg (sort of), Quad-sexed Ovoviviparous Marsupial Galra, Scents & Smells, Shiro's Slow-Dawning Horror About Raising Babies On a De-Facto Warship, Ulaz (Voltron) Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 13:18:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15316329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calibratingentropy/pseuds/calibratingentropy
Summary: After getting ejected from the corrupted wormhole alone, Hunk crashes into a planet. Good news: he also crashed into the Galra warship orbiting the planet and took it out with him, so no Galra attacks. Bad news: there was a Galra soldier on that ship with very young infants, and Hunk just can't leave helpless babies behind to die with their parent!But Hunk has no idea what to do with babies. At least he's part alien and pretty sure he can actually, you know, feed them and everything (he'd never thought spontaneously lactating would ever be anything but mortifying) but what if they get sick or something? So he could really use some help! Or even just some company.His luck takes a turn for the better when a friendly Galra named Ulaz shows up in response to his distress signal. Ulaz knows how to take care of babies, and has a nice safe base to house Hunk and Yellow until the Castle can find him.AndUlaz is kind, and helpful, and attractive, and smells so good...Oh dear.





	Accidental Baby Acquisition

**Author's Note:**

> More branches of the AU cluster for everyone! This one is _not_ connected to Tail Tales, but it's similar. Hunk just has a different Galra parent in this one. Just for the sake of things, I figure Hunk and Lance both turned 18 by the end of season 1.
> 
> Some fast facts:  
> -Hunk is mostly human, but he does have a Galra pouch, and some hormones and instincts. Sex-wise he mostly corresponds to human male but in Galra terms he's closest to Galra male (although many Galra might wonder if he was a carrier instead).  
> -Ulaz is a sex called a switch, which can both produce eggs and sperm, and brooding is a period where eggs are being produced. He identifies male.

Hunk woke up to smoke and flames. What—? Oh. Right. Rescuing Allura, creepy warped wormhole, crashing into a Galra cruiser on exit… Smoke and flames made perfect sense. _Oh god, he was gonna die!_

Yellow wasn’t responding to the controls, and the consoles flickered in and out. No, no, nonono! Hunk needed help! “Um, hello? Hunk to Castle! Yellow Lion to anybody. I’ve crashed and there’s fire and smoke and Yellow isn’t responding and please, _please_ tell me somebody can hear me out there. Help! Mayday!”

Nothing. Hunk felt nauseous, dizzy, and smoke inhalation was maybe a thing. He had to get away, right? Maybe? Why was he all alone, why? 

It took longer than he would have expected to get out, and his armor said there was definite air outside. Problem: the air was full of smoke. 

Perk: That sure was the wreckage of that Galra ship on fire around him. At least he wouldn’t have a bunch of Galra trying to shoot him! 

“…please…” 

Whoa, wait, what was that? Hunk spun towards the sound, Bayard up and that. That was a Galra. That was a bleeding Galra. That was a Galra begging for help. Hunk took a step closer, and then another. Swallowed hard. “Okay, one wrong move and I shoot you. What are you asking for?” 

The Galra dude(?) looked up and started clawing at his torn armor, spitting up blood. That wasn’t good. That was really really bad. The Galra got to skin, fur, whatever, and spoke. “Please. I— Don’t let my joeys die. Please save them.” 

And that was a pouch with what looked like an itty bitty purple baby inside. Galra were purple space kangaroos; why wouldn’t they be? (Hunk had an alien mom somewhere in space and _he_ had a pouch— Nope. No. Not thinking about that right now.) 

Even if Galra were evil, he couldn’t leave a helpless baby to die, but way out of his depth here. “Okay, so! I know _nothing_ about babies. I want to help but—“ 

“ _Please_!” 

Hunk couldn’t say no to that (clearly dying) face, but squirming baby. In his arms! What did he do? What if he dropped it? How was he going to feed it? Well… Nope. Not thinking about that right now. The Galra made a terrible sad keening noise when the second baby came out so very still but the third (bab _ies_ , why) was squirming too. Hunk just knelt there on the ruined ground with two tiny babies in his arms and watched as the Galra breathed out like a burden lifted and… went still. 

Oh god, there were babies and he was alone with smoke and fire and what was he supposed to do?! Hunk didn’t want to go too far from Yellow in case the others heard him, but he definitely couldn’t stay outside with babies and—

Okay, panic was going nowhere. He would just go inside Yellow and keep the babies warm. Rescue would come soon, right?

* * *

The babies smelled sour and upset, and help still hadn’t come. They were oddly quiet, but the smell bothered Hunk on a fundamental level. Also his chest, but especially down in the pouch he’d apparently inherited from his alien mom (still… not thinking about it), was all achy and sore, and the last time that had happened, Hunk had. Well, he’d been told it wasn’t uncommon for teenage boys to basically grow boobs, but the doctor had been mystified about the leaking milk thing.

And… thinking about it. Hunk had a pouch, and nipples in there, and when he’d panicked about it suddenly splitting open across his stomach, Mom had told him about his alien mom that had basically saved his life after his birth-mom had died in a car crash by adopting him and nursing him in a pouch. And Hunk now had tiny purple babies that didn’t even have open eyes (or ears, he’d checked that too) who probably needed milk and… 

Dammit. He was really gonna do this. Hunk took a breath and stripped off his armor to the waist. He considered his chest (boobs) for a second, and then bit his lip. The Galra had a pouch and he had a pouch. Moving careful and slow, Hunk picked up the first baby and pulled aside the stretchy skin over his stomach. His nipples down there looked red and swollen, and the baby twisted toward one and—

Hunk gasped, whined and squirmed, and gripped the chair as his back bowed from the intense sensation that went right to his toes. It felt… weird. _Good_ weird, and the good weird only increased when he put the other baby down and it too latched on. He could feel every suck, every breath and movement, and it felt like a really good hug. 

“So I only just met you guys, but I’m pretty sure I’d protect you with my life,” Hunk told them, and blinked slowly. The good weird feeling was making him sleepy all of a sudden.

* * *

Threat! There was a purple face leaning over him, and Hunk was snarling before his brain caught up with the rest of him. How he managed to pin the Galra (he _was_ Galra) Hunk wasn’t entirely sure, but the scent of shocked surprise probably had something to do with it. And the Galra held so very still, making a weird sound from his chest that made Hunk want to relax and go to sleep again. 

Hunk wasn’t stupid enough to let go. “Who are you? Why are you here?” 

“I heard your distress signal, and I support Voltron. I came to help…” the Galra looked mystified and leaned up to sniff at Hunk. Rude! “… are you carrying?” 

“Carrying what?” And that was when Hunk remembered that he was half-naked, and had two babies in his pouch, _nursing_ and— Oh. “I have no idea what I’m doing. There was a dying Galra and babies and I just… Yeah. That was a thing.” 

The Galra made a disappointed click in his throat. “Did you not receive any mandatory lessons in reproduction?” 

Hunk rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, human reproduction is way different from alien reproduction and I didn’t have anyone to tell me about the alien kind.” 

Silence, then the Galra made that soothing sound again. “I’m willing to help you, if you’re willing to trust me.” 

It was Hunk’s turn for silence. “Do I have a choice?” 

The look Hunk got in return was flat, and technically, it _was_ a stupid question. Hunk curled around his stomach, so very aware of the weight that hadn’t been there before. They were so tiny, couldn’t weigh more than a couple ounces each and barely stretched out the skin of Hunk’s pouch, but they might as well have been tiny stars, with their own gravity and burning bright and captivating. This Galra would know better than him how to take care of the babies, and Hunk didn’t want to be alone. _But_. 

“How do I know that you haven’t sent messages and called the fleet to our location?” 

The Galra blinked once, slowly. “I didn’t have to wake you.” 

Good point. Didn’t help Hunk’s nerves any, but good point. “Okay, but you could be trying to get me to come with you out of, like, bonus points of making me walk to my own doom or something.” 

The look got _flatter_ which didn’t seem possible, but there it was. Right. Okay. Hunk swallowed against the nerves. “I’ll go with you, but only for the babies.”

* * *

The Galra’s name was Ulaz, and he had an incredibly cool base that could be cloaked like a space taco (mm, tacos) and some kind of gravity ship that let him tow in the Yellow Lion behind them. The babies were smelling distressed again by the time they got there, and Ulaz handed Hunk a cloth. 

“They need to be groomed; you should learn to recognize the scent cues. Lack of grooming leads to abdominal pain at best.” Ulaz said that like it was obvious.

Hunk stared. “I… what?”

“Do humans not groom?” 

Now that was insulting. “There’s this thing called showers— Okay, I guess babies have baths, but these babies are still latched onto me and—“ 

Nervous Hunk was a babbling Hunk, and also an inattentive one. Hunk hadn’t noticed Ulaz moving behind him and yelped, but those long, strong arms curled around him to put the cloth in his hand. Hunk fought not to blush. Ulaz… smelled nice, and the warmth was even better. 

“Open your pouch,” Ulaz instructed, and then guided Hunk through the proper way to groom a baby, who of course pooped right into the cloth. It was normal, Ulaz explained, and at least it was better than accidents in the pouch. (Ew. Seriously. _Ew_.) 

When Hunk was done, the babies smelled calm and Hunk was caught between sleepy and hungry. He ended up leaning back against Ulaz, liking the warmth and the sweetly musky scent coming off him. Maybe trusting a strange Galra was bad, but he was helping with the babies, and he had a nice hidden base with no one else. And that was probably not the greatest thing, in hindsight, but too late to worry now. 

Ulaz apparently could smell his hunger. Or he knew something about nutrition for nursing mothers (dads? The translator gave Hunk “mom” whenever Ulaz talked about it) because suddenly there was another lesson. Useful, though! And suddenly Hunk wondered if Keith was part (Galra) alien, because Hunk would have been blind if he hadn’t noticed Keith’s eating habits and his odd smell, and Ulaz’s lesson matched up to both his and Keith’s natural food inclinations and nutritional needs. Huh. 

But food being taken care of made Hunk feel even sleepier, and of course Ulaz had only one bedroom in the place (that was livable, at least) which meant sleeping surrounded in more of that scent, and Hunk just _knew_ it was going to be awkward when he woke up.

* * *

Hunk was hard, and maybe he could pass it off as morning wood, but he was mostly sure it wasn’t. He’d been awake for five minutes at least, sleepily nuzzling the pillow that smelled of Ulaz’s sweet-tangy musk. It was a really attractive smell, and sleepy Hunk wasn’t nervous Hunk, and therefore wasn’t too panicked to get hard in response and—

Ulaz was standing in the door, watching him. Hunk sat up fast, instantly regretted it when his head spun and his chest _hurt_ , and made sure the sheet was arranged over his lap. “Uh, hi? How long was I asleep?” 

“Not long.” Ulaz took a step closer, head tilted like a curious dog. “But it should be time to groom the joeys again. Do you need assistance?” 

“I’m pretty sure I’ve got it, uh— Cloth and solution and—“ Hunk flailed around, wondering how he was gonna get up while hard without Ulaz noticing.

Ulaz handed him what he needed and was that a tiny smile? Hunk’s heart skipped, and his cock twitched in interest (traitor) but he managed not to fumble the cloth and got to work. The babies pooping into the cloth was still gross, but on the other hand, not having to worry about getting diapers on them (did they even make diapers that tiny?) or a mess in his pouch was convenient. There was just one problem. “Uh, so… they haven’t peed yet. A human baby would have peed a lot by now, so should I be worried?”

At first Ulaz looked utterly confused (it was not adorable, bad Hunk!) but then he must have realized something because he let out a soft ‘ahh’ and then shook his head. “Earthlings extract wastes differently. All wastes pass out through the cloaca in Galra, but if you’re worried I can perform a scan and make sure they’re healthy.” 

“That… would actually be great,” Hunk said, gaining enthusiasm as he went, “because I’m totally going to end up that parent that freaks out over every little thing that’s new and unexpected, I just know it.” 

Ulaz extended a hand, definitely smiling now, and maybe even laughing. “It’s quite common for first-time pouch-mothers to be nervous about it.” 

Hunk took it, and was glad that his cock had got the message of no sexy times and was giving up. He was still a little hard, but even half off, his suit held it away from too much chafing, so Hunk didn’t think it’d be long before he was back to business as normal. Sometimes ignoring the problem worked! Unfortunately moving around presented Hunk with another problem. Hunk’s chest was _sore_ and it looked swollen too, he thought. His extra nipples (the unoccupied ones anyway) were sore too, but not nearly as bad. He ended up wincing a few times on the way to wherever Ulaz could do a checkup, and Hunk spent most of the walk red, because Ulaz kept giving him concerned looks when he flinched. 

Sitting perfectly still for the scan was honestly almost a relief, and Ulaz reached out to put a hand on his shoulder when it was done. “They are perfectly healthy for their age, and you’re producing the correct milk formulation for the most part. We may need to give you a treatment for adjustment if you keep producing that much lactose, however.” 

Oh, huh. “Galra milk doesn’t have lactose? Human milk has a lot. Is it harmful to the babies?” 

Ulaz nodded. “Lactose is less harmful than some sugars, but Galra have difficulty digesting it, and it can build up to toxic levels quickly in young joeys.” 

Hunk’s hands were pressed down over his belly before he even thought about it, curling protectively around the tiny bumps that were the babies—joeys. “Alright, how do we fix that? I don’t want to make them sick. Being lactose intolerant sucks.” 

Another flash of a small smile. “I should warn you that it might cause other changes. It may activate your DNA and change you to bring out more Galra traits.”

Wait, wait, _wait_. What? Hunk sputtered, flailed, and then groaned. “So, my alien mom _was_ Galra?” 

“I would have guessed that it was a couple generations back, but it’s clear from your scent, pouch, and reaction to the joeys’ presence that you do have Galra blood.” Ulaz said that almost gently, expression (scent) curious. 

Well, Hunk had some thinking to do, and he hoped nobody’d treat him differently once he told everybody. But he could at least explain some stuff and get some answers. “I have no idea how it works, but my birth mom was pregnant with me and got into a really bad car crash. It was before I should have been born, and I had some serious congenital problems on top of that, so it’s kind of a miracle I’m here today. But anyway, my other Mom told me that my alien mom found her, and helped her cut me out right before she died, and kind of adopted and nursed me. And I got better! Congenital problems all fixed, and strong and healthy.” 

And some weird things, like the pouch, but Mom had been right, those things were a small price to pay for health and being alive. Of course, the thought of being _more_ Galra was a little daunting. Hunk swallowed and asked, “so what’ll change? Will I turn purple, or something?” 

Ulaz shook his head. “It’s hard to say. I would have to do a full analysis and see what genes you have fully or partially activated. The treatment is more likely to fully express a partially activated gene, or make a co-dominant trait fully dominant than activate a dormant one.”

Not very reassuring, but Hunk had the babies to think about. “I’ll do it for the babies. Joeys? I guess, they definitely are if they’re Galra.” 

Ulaz’s scent brightened, and he instructed Hunk to wait while he put something together. After a couple mostly painless shots, and Hunk was well on his way to making the right milk for the joeys. Or so Ulaz said, and Hunk was ready to believe him, at this point. 

But that did nothing to stop the soreness in his chest, and now it was accompanied by a sensation almost of pressure that made it so much worse. Why not ask Ulaz? “So, uh, is there anything you could do about… um—“ 

Hunk gestured at his chest, accidentally brushed against one of his nipples, and then yelped and flailed at the pain. And dribbling milk. Of course. Ulaz’s skin went a darker, redder violet and he looked away. “There is a way to help,” he began, talking like he was was walking on eggshells, “but most find the process too embarrassing to go through with.” 

Oh. Oh… Well. Hunk swallowed. “What’s the process?” 

“Having someone close to you help express the excess milk—“ Ulaz actually turned around, and coughed. “… through suckling. The compounds in our saliva that encourage healing act as a signal to cease the additional production.” 

Annnnnd hard again. Hunk had always been lukewarm on the idea of kissing. Making out, hickies, even blow jobs were kind of… meh. Nice! But he’d rather cuddle as foreplay than make out (kissing was _great_ after though), except… _Except_! Ever since he’d started noticing the actual boob-shape to his chest and the pouch had grown in, Hunk had noticed that the one kind of kissing he liked was having his nipples licked and sucked on. And he liked it _a lot_. 

So here was Ulaz, nice looking, _wonderful_ smelling, and offering to help get rid of the pain and coincidentally probably turn Hunk way on. Hunk could see it in his head, Ulaz at his chest, running that purple-ish tongue over his nipples and— Sure was getting warm in here! Hunk wanted to crawl into a hole and die, but also to say yes, _please_. 

He ended up flailing instead. “I— Uh! Er… I’d really like help, but I’ll probably get aroused. I kinda can’t help it? So if you don’t want to help because of that, that’s fine, I just—“ 

“That kind of reaction isn’t unexpected. It’s more common than people believe.” Ulaz still wasn’t looking at him but his tone was matter of fact. “I’m merely concerned about making you uncomfortable.” 

And that was so sweet? Definitely. Definitely sweet. Oh god, Hunk wanted it though. He swallowed hard against the nerves. “I could really use the help, so if you aren’t uncomfortable, I think I’d… yeah. How are we gonna do this?” 

Ulaz looked over his shoulder, very very briefly. “The bedroom would probably be more comfortable; follow me.” 

Hunk felt like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs on the way back to the bedroom, but at least the nerves made his cock go down to half-mast (again). Ulaz gestured him to sit and then knelt in front of him. Like this they could look each other directly in the eye; Hunk looked away before Ulaz could, and breathed out to try to calm himself. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ulaz leaning in. His heart stuttered, and Ulaz asked if he was ready. Hunk managed a nod, and—

The first gentle lick came with a burst of relief. Intense, but it didn’t go right to his cock. But the second lick was molten lava, slipping down through his chest and pooling in his groin. He breathed out sharply through his nose, as if he could force the pleasure back out of himself. Didn’t work; of course not. 

Ulaz hummed a soft note, and then _sucked_. It was gentle, soft, and so damn _good_. Not even entirely in a sexy way either (but his cock was hard and straining in his suit) because the easing of the pressure in his chest was so welcome. Hunk’s breaths shook in his lungs and he knew vaguely that he was making tiny desperate and encouraging noises. Somehow, his hand had found the back of Ulaz’s neck, kneading a little and holding him close.

Ulaz didn’t seem to mind, and his scent had changed. Sharper, _wetter_ (was wetter a thing for a scent? Hell if Hunk knew, but he didn’t have a better word), and a tangy-sweetness that felt like it coated the back of Hunk’s nose and throat when he breathed. Was Ulaz turned on too? Hunk thought Ulaz might have been turned on too. 

It was both a disappointment and a profound relief that Ulaz moved to the other nipple, and Hunk moaned _loudly_ at the release of the building pressure. 

Then, feeling like as soon as it had begun, Hunk’s nipples weren’t swollen and leaking anymore and Ulaz lifted up his head. Pearly white milk clung to his bottom lip, and Hunk’s cock jumped when Ulaz’s tongue slipped out to lick it clean. Ulaz said something. What?

“Are the teats in your pouch also sore?” Ulaz repeated. 

Teats? Oh. _Oh_ shit. Hunk kind of wanted it, but he wasn’t sure Ulaz could fit his head in there and the thought of him disturbing the babies was bad. “Yeah, a little, but—“ 

Ulaz began licking his fingertips, and a second later wet, slippery fingers squeezed one of his nipples down there. It felt…intimate, having somebody else’s hand down in his pouch, and the babies didn’t seem to mind. It wasn’t quite as good as lips and tongue, but there was relief, and just because it wasn’t _as_ good didn’t mean his cock wasn’t still very interested. Ulaz moved to the other nipple and there was going to be a _mess_ after. Hunk was past the point of caring. He moaned, and a scratchy, squeaky chirping noise came from somewhere in his chest. Noises like that didn’t happen often and Hunk had never figured out how. Didn’t matter now, because Ulaz had just made a similar noise from his own chest. 

Their eyes met, and Hunk wished he could see more than the gold glow. He was pretty sure his own pupils were blown with arousal at this point. Hunk glanced down, as much to avoid embarrassing eye contact as to watch what was happening and saw—

That shape pressing against the crotch of Ulaz’s suit hadn’t been there before. It didn’t quite read as ‘cock’ to Hunk’s brain, but at the same time, Hunk knew better than to expect human-looking junk on aliens. While he was distracted with that thought, something brushed against his own cock. Fingers.

“Do you want help with this?” Something about Ulaz’s voice sent shivers down Hunk’s spine.

He didn’t know what to really say but ‘yes’ slipped out before he could think better of it. It wouldn’t be fair if Hunk was the only one who got off though. “Let me help you too?”

Ulaz looked like he was about to protest, but ended up making that noise again when Hunk copied the motion. Whatever he’d touched _moved_ and the chirping noise turned to a trilling one as Ulaz leaned in. His scent had gone mouthwateringly good, all warm, wet, and tangy musk. The brush of their cheeks together was electric. No turning back now. 

Their clothes came off in a frantic rush, while they touched and nuzzled. Ulaz must not like kissing much either, Hunk realized, and he was down with that. Hunk ended up half reclining, and Ulaz straddling his thighs. It was a safe position for the bab—joeys, at least. Less potential for being crushed or bruised. 

Being naked together gave them both a chance to look at each other. Ulaz’s mouth dropped a little in surprise, and then he shuddered, eyes slipping closed. From the scent, he must really like what Hunk was packing. Hunk did too, at least when it came to jerking off. Sex with a (crazy) long cock like his meant the base was usually not inside when he was topping, or receiving a blow job, but he could squeeze his other hand around the base when he jerked off. 

Ulaz’s though… It was less of a cock and more of a tentacle if Hunk was being honest with himself. Longer even than Hunk’s cock, and as Hunk looked, it _wiggled_. Oh _damn_ ; how good would that feel inside him? Super impossibly good, Hunk guessed.

Fingers gripped his cock, squeezing a little harder than Hunk had ever been squeezed before, and it was better than Hunk would have expected. He shouted and bucked his hips into it, but it wasn’t fair to Ulaz to not give in return. So Hunk reached out, and Ulaz’s other hand snapped out to catch his wrist. At first Hunk felt a jolt of apprehension. Had he misjudged? 

But no, Ulaz was guiding his fingers further back. Ohhhhh, okay. Oh shit. Oh! Pressure clamped down tight against his fingertips while Ulaz made a trilling sound from his chest and threw his head back into a lovely arch. Hunk couldn’t resist rubbing his cheek against Ulaz’s pretty throat. 

The slick heat felt perfect against his fingers, and the tight squeeze was maddening. Ulaz made that sound again as he panted and bore down on Hunk’s fingers. His voice was thick and breathless. “I ache to be filled. Want your cock— The _stretch_.” 

Hell yes. Hunk wanted that. He felt almost drunk on that wonderful scent. “Keep talking like that and I’ll come before I can get inside—“ 

That startled something almost like the lovechild between a laugh and a moan out of Ulaz. He rubbed his cheek against Hunk’s bare shoulder and leaned over. Hunk whined a wordless complaint at the lack of contact but it was cut off when Ulaz came back up with something in his hand. Whatever it was, it slipped over the tip of Hunk’s cock, perfectly snug, and hung off the end for a couple inches. It didn’t cover the head of his cock entirely so it wasn’t some kind of alien condom, and the part that extended out past the tip was flexible without being limp. 

Hunk was about to ask when he put it together. Ulaz’s cock was longer (and so much skinnier) than Hunk’s, but with the whatever-it-was on it, he could get as deep. 

Ulaz shrugged, smelling almost sheepish. “I want to be penetrated fully right now. I need it. But don’t worry; your natural length should prevent any of your semen from entering my womb.” 

Womb. There was so much Hunk didn’t know about Galra, but now really wasn’t the time. He welcomed Ulaz closer, rubbing his cheek all over Ulaz’s chest. Ulaz trilled again, and gently grabbed Hunk’s cock. They _both_ made the trilling sound when Hunk’s cock started pressing in. Ulaz rippled and squeezed around him, and Hunk bucked his hips, getting a little further each time. 

It was perfect, so tight and wet and good; Hunk told Ulaz that loudly. Ulaz seemed to have lost the capacity for words. Or words that made any sense, anyway. Didn’t matter; Ulaz’s voice was pure sex, and each hitch only drove Hunk higher. 

He was so gonna come first— Except Ulaz suddenly arched and shook, and everything inside squeezed down around Hunk’s cock. _Now_ he was coming, and hard. He shouted with it, and then sagged. They were both breathing hard, and Hunk wrapped his arms around the bigger man, glad he could reach. His ex-girlfriend had hated when Hunk had wanted to cuddle and stay inside, even after he’d gone soft again, but maybe Ulaz would allow it. 

Ulaz was humming something that didn’t quite reach musical, and wrapped himself around Hunk in turn. Cuddling was a go!

* * *

Hunk must have dozed off during the cuddling, because he had woken up when Ulaz pulled away, sounding downright _mournful_ about it. To Hunk’s surprise, it didn’t turn awkward, at least on Ulaz’s end. Hunk tried to follow Ulaz’s example, and even managed pretty well. He ended up spending most of the next several hours working on Yellow, with frequent breaks to make sure the joeys were okay and got groomed. 

Ulaz was doing his own thing, mostly, but he stopped in to check on Hunk a couple times. He lingered each time, and Hunk decided he really liked being in a room that was full of that wonderful scent. If he didn’t have important things to do, Hunk probably would have encouraged Ulaz to stay, or left with him, but it was worth it to get work done without distractions. 

Finally Hunk got the communications back up to 100% and was able to send out the signal at full strength. There. Now he just had to wait for the Castle to receive the signal and wormhole to get him. Of course, now he had nothing else to do, because the rest of the systems were self-repairing. Time to wait, Hunk guessed, and went off searching for Ulaz. 

He found Ulaz in the control room of the gravity generator (and it was so cool that that part could detach as a fighter class ship) and peeked around Ulaz’s shoulder. There was a bunch of code on the holoscreens in front of him, and Ulaz was digging through one portion. 

It took Hunk longer to parse things, because his translator didn’t handle Galran very well. Too bad Pidge wasn’t here; her translation script worked pretty well. What Ulaz was working on, though, was fantastic. 

“So you can turn this into a weapon too? Looks like you’re rigging it so that you can activate it and crush whatever’s close by in the resulting pocket,” he asked. 

“Theoretically, yes, but we don’t want to use it except in last resort. Those generators are hard to build, and our best scientific mind was captured by the Empire.” Ulaz seemed pleased that Hunk had figured it out.

Feeling warm, Hunk took a closer look, and then his blood froze. “Uh, but that would be a suicide tactic. You have to be right here to engage or disengage that function. If you ever have to use it, it’ll be suicide!” 

“I know,” Ulaz said gravely. 

“But it doesn’t have to be,” Hunk countered, wondering for a split second if he should really interfere, “Look here! If you just change this, and reroute here and add a few lines of code here… See? Now you can tie the system to a specific frequency, and control it remotely from a different location. Piloting it will be rough, but you don’t need a lot of maneuverability if you’re just going to ram.” 

Ulaz looked at Hunk, then at the screen, and then back to Hunk. A smile bloomed slowly across is face. “That might even work; thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Hunk knew that they were virtually strangers at this point, but he was happy and wanted to share it (wanted a close up sniff of that scent another time), so he pulled Ulaz into a hug. 

Ulaz stiffened, and then relaxed. Hunk felt more than saw Ulaz press his face against Hunk’s hair, and it was so nice. He could stay like this for hours.

So the alarm went off, because of course.

* * *

It was the Castle! Which, great, but also meant he’d probably never see Ulaz again. On the other hand, Ulaz was very interested in Shiro, and decided to test the Castle’s defenses with something close to a manic grin. Hunk wasn’t about to let Ulaz get shot or stabbed or tasered if he could help it. 

So that’s how he ended up here. In slightly too large borrowed armor (but better than his, because it was designed to get air into an occupied pouch), and with the whole team giving him _looks_. The explanation of how he’d met Ulaz and gotten rescued hadn’t helped much, and now Hunk was fidgeting nervously while he waited for a response to everything.

Lance was the first to speak up. “So what’s with the new suit? Something happen to your armor?” 

Do or die time. Hunk was kind of hoping to break it to everyone a little later. “So, remember how we used to argue about whether or not the accidental baby acquisition trope was even feasible?”

“Yeah,” Lance said, looking both confused and suspicious, “and I still say that your third mom finding you after your birth-mom died in a car crash doesn’t count.”

“And I say it does—“ Hunk bit his lip worked his hands out of fists, “and… babies, er, technically joeys, accidentally acquired.” 

Everybody started shouting at once, and Hunk flinched back. Ulaz, who’d been cuffed as soon as everybody realized he was Galra, stood up and took a half step forward to bump his shoulder against Hunk’s. Hunk appreciated the gesture and smiled back. If the sudden silence was any indication Hunk had startled everybody with that. 

As usual, Lance was the one to speak up first, “I call Papi!” He shrugged and laughed at the stunned looks. “You gotta jump on stuff like this, or you’ll get stuck with something like Cousin Pidge or worse!” 

“I don’t even—“ Pidge started. 

Lance just clapped her on the back. “Don’t worry, we’ll make you Aunt Pidge; much better than cousin!”

Shiro raised his hands. “Guys, guys, maybe we should consider the important things first. Like, how did you even get a baby? …babies.” 

Story-time. “So, when I got out of that corrupted wormhole, Yellow was mostly dead in the water. I smashed into a Galra cruiser, and we both crashed on the planet,” Hunk tried not to tense back up, but the tension came through in his voice, “and one of the soldiers had joeys. They would have died without help; they were so small. So… yeah. Now I have joeys. Ulaz has been showing me how to take care of them.” 

Lance was clearly thrilled, and trying to ask if they were cute, but Shiro talked over him. “That was good of you, Hunk, but we should at least try to find the other parent, somehow. Babies are in no way something you can go ‘finders, keepers’ over.” 

“I’m… not sure I can just give them back at this point,” Hunk said, looking to Ulaz for confirmation. 

Ulaz’s expression was severe, but his voice was gentle. “Hunk is correct. Detaching from the teat in joeys that young only happens due to severe trauma or illness. Somewhere between a third and a half of joeys that detach are unable to attach again, and most of those die very shortly afterwards. So forcing the joeys to detach after a first trauma would be unethical and very high risk.” 

Silence! There weren’t any pins to drop, but Hunk was sure he’d be able to hear it if there were. Hunk shifted uncomfortably and one of the joeys squirmed, so he put his hand over that spot without even thinking about it. 

Lance looked at that hand, then back up at Hunk’s face, and then down to the hand again, but Pidge spoke first. Her head was tilted to the side like a curious bird. “So what you’re saying is that you’re not just changing diapers and giving bottles and cuddles, but you’re actually nursing these joeys? How did that happen?” 

Allura’s eyes narrowed suddenly, and Coran looked surprised and confused. Shiro’s expression was a faint frown, but he was giving off the scent equivalent of a face-palm and a ‘why me?’

Lance was waving his arms and hands around in his own special Lance way, trying to communicate while his surprise choked the words in his throat. Hunk loved Lance as his very best friend, but Lance was _terrible_ at charades. 

Hunk sighed. “Use your words, Lance. And, about that… I’ve known that my third mom was an alien for years. Suddenly growing a kangaroo pouch was kind of a clue. But anyway, apparently my alien mom is a Galra? I have not come anywhere near processing what that fact means for me, but it makes sense.” 

There was a sharp inhale next to him, and Allura had gone pale and taken a step back. Uh-oh; Hunk had known she wouldn’t react well (genocide done by Galra and all that) but this was more intense than he’d expected. 

Pidge was quiet for a moment, made a sound that sounded kind of like ‘huh’ and then shrugged. “What I want to know is how a Galra got to Earth without the planet getting invaded.” 

“The Blade of Marmora has been fighting the Empire’s tyranny for centuries. We discovered the Blue Lion first, and had been attempting to keep it hidden. Your pouch-mother was a Blade.” Ulaz said that so matter of fact, but there was something about his scent…

“You know who it is!” Hunk didn’t mean to sound accusing, but he’d been half hoping to find his alien mom for _years_ and one perk of being in space meant he had a chance. 

“It’s not my place to tell,” Ulaz shot back, without bite, but very firm. 

Could Hunk accept that? Yeah, Hunk could accept that. Ulaz was on the up and up, he was sure of it, and if there was a reason he couldn’t say, Hunk would accept that it was a good reason.

“Well whatever; you’re still Hunk and still my friend,” Lance said, and Hunk got the impression that it definitely wasn’t what he’d originally meant to say. “But don’t think I’m gonna forget that you’ve been keeping secrets for a while!” 

“Would you have believed me?” Hunk was gonna raise an eyebrow at that, because _he_ wouldn’t have believed himself, back then. 

Lance was all raring to go with a denial, or possibly a lecture, but then closed his mouth and dropped his hand. “You’ve got me there, but we’re going to hang out, just best buds, and you’re going to tell me _everything_. Deal?” 

“Deal.” That was almost painless, not that Hunk had expected Lance to be upset, but Hunk’s nerves didn’t listen to his brain half the time. Pidge seemed to be okay with it too, and Shiro was still internally bemoaning his fate or stressing about the situation or something. He wasn’t angry or afraid though, which was a good sign. Allura was still suspicious and battling with old fears, if her scent was anything to go by. Coran, on the other hand, had apparently gotten over his confusion, and from his distant stare and smile, he was planning something perfectly Coran.

Keith was the only one that Hunk couldn’t get a read on. Something was bothering him, but Hunk didn’t think it was _Hunk_ exactly. He’d also almost walked right back out of the room, and finally settled on the furthest corner after an admonishing look from Shiro. Now, though he stood up, and wrinkled his nose for probably the twentieth time. “If we’re done with the briefing, can I go? It _reeks_ of sex in here.” 

Suddenly everybody was staring at Hunk, and Hunk wanted to crawl into a hole and die. But another tick in the “Keith was also part alien” column, because if normal humans could smell it, Lance would have been the first to say something.

Speaking of Lance, there was a broad smile splitting his face. “High five! I’m not completely sold on this guy, but if you and Shiro are both vouching for him, he’s fine by me.” 

Allura’s expression was sour and distrustful. The worst part was that she was now including Hunk in her distrust. But she wasn’t saying anything, and Hunk was going to give her the benefit of the doubt and a little time. It was Shiro who suggested visiting the base to get a look at the records and intercepted communications. Hunk was happy to agree, because Yellow was still parked down there. The repairs were pretty close to finished too.

* * *

The trip down was uneventful. Pidge’s questions about her family were expected, and Hunk hoped to hell Ulaz had some info for her. Shiro had been hovering, questions unsaid buzzing through his scent and expression. But Keith got to it first, asking questions about Ulaz’s cool sword. He was staring hard at the hilt of it for a long moment before handing it back, and Hunk itched to get to the bottom of it.

But Lance was still all fired up. “Oh come on, just a peek? I want to see if they’re cute.” 

“Lance,” Hunk fought not to roll his eyes and sighed. “I’m not sure I want to be half-naked in front of people, and they’re— You won’t be able to see much because they’re in a pouch and not coming out anytime soon.” 

Lance pouted, but it only lasted a moment. He was grinning again in a second. “Pouch! I can’t believe you’re a space kangaroo. But I guess that explains that time when your nipples started leaking. Does it feel weird?” 

“Would you ask a girl that, Lance?” Hunk couldn’t look at him. TMI. Waaaay TMI. 

“Of course n—oh.” Lance gave Hunk a sheepish grin. “I get it. But I can’t believe you’re gonna be a dad already. But you’ve seen them, right? Are they cute?”

Hunk couldn’t help smiling. “Yeah, they’re cute. Like tiny purple kittens, only without fur. Their eyes aren’t open yet and they’re really tiny and quiet. I have to figure out what they want by smell.” 

“You know, I almost think that this is cooler than you being a werewolf,” Lance said while elbowing Hunk and snickering. 

Hunk remembered his new best friend asking him if he was a werewolf when they were in the same class in elementary. And, okay, Hunk probably shouldn’t have out-smelled the police dog for their class field-trip, but werewolves, really? Aliens were so much more—

Alarm!

* * *

The new monster (Robeast was gonna stick, Hunk thought) was more powerful than any they’d faced before. Voltron wasn’t doing more than scratching it, and the crystals were making everything much more complicated. They’d have to find a way to retreat, but Hunk wasn’t gonna leave Ulaz—

Ulaz! Hunk knew that little ship, and it was heading straight towards the Robeast— “No! Ulaz, you’d better not be in there! We figured out a work-around!” 

Ulaz’s voice crackled over the comms, just as Shiro added his own protest. “The risk of failure is too high with remote operation, and the universe _needs_ Voltron.” 

Nope! No way. Hunk pulled up his console. He’d never tried to do something like this before, but Yellow seemed to approve. The frequency was established, and Hunk punched in commands. “Hey Ulaz? Get your mask up. Ejecting you in three, two—” 

“Hunk—“ 

Yellow’s sensors indicated the emergency ejection was a success, but no way of knowing if Ulaz had gotten his helmet on in time. Hunk prayed that he had. 

No time for those thoughts; the Robeast was drawing in more crystals to fire more beams. Hunk assumed control and drove the generator ship directly towards that creepy, gaping mouth. He triggered the reaction as soon as it got eaten and at first it looked like nothing happened. Then it started crumpling in on itself and Hunk whooped. 

A second after that, Hunk realized that it would probably cause an unpleasant reaction that could endanger Ulaz, so he broke Voltron, and sent the Yellow Lion in that direction. Keith and Red got there first, and Keith yelled ‘cover me’ before presumably scooping up Ulaz. Hunk had been right about the snap-back, and got Yellow in between the source and Red just in time. Yellow’s armor was up to the task, if barely. 

Sounding almost breathless, Keith said. “Got him; he’s alive. We’re heading back to the base.” 

When they were back on the base Hunk wasted no time in rushing over to pull Ulaz into a hug. There was some kind of squeaky sound coming from his chest but Hunk would save his freak out for later. Ulaz smelled startled but then settled into the hug and made an answering noise that Hunk swore sounded like a warbling pigeon. Hunk pressed his face as close to Ulaz's neck as he could get and breathed for a minute. 

Then he launched the tirade that had been building. "Don't do that again! No sacrifices. You had a work around so you should have used it."

Silence. Ulaz returned the hug and smelled like regret and gratitude. Finally he started talking, so quietly that Hunk had to focus to hear clearly. "Thank you for saving me. But I can't promise that I won't sacrifice myself in the future. Voltron is so much more important than the life of one Blade."

"Yeah, well we can't save the Universe on our own. We need allies and back up. You're so much more important than you think, Ulaz. Your help will make us stronger and better prepared. Your death would have only kept us alive until the next Robeast." Hunk had probably overstepped and felt a surge of embarrassment. 

Ulaz offered him a tiny smile and tipped Hunk’s chin up. "Shiro isn't the only one who inspires, I see. But I understand your concerns, and will do everything in my power to avoid having to make a similar sacrifice in the future.” 

“Good, ‘cause I—“ Hunk didn’t know how to put it into words, so he just leaned in for a second and brushed their cheeks together. 

Ulaz shivered and chirped again, and it went right to Hunk’s cock. Wow. He hadn’t been this quick on the arousal since his ex-girlfriend had had a problem with her birth control and had to go a month without anything at all— Ohhh, shit. But Ulaz knew about Galra stuff, and seemed to think it was okay, so maybe Hunk was worrying over nothing?

Keith coughed loudly and glared at both of them. Hunk stepped back, reluctantly, because yeah, PDA was in poor taste. (Didn’t mean he didn’t _want_ it though.) 

That got almost a smile out of Keith, and a burst of gratitude in his scent. Then he came forward, pulling his ever present knife out of wherever he stashed it in his Paladin armor. He started unwrapping the hilt, nerves creeping in. “I’ve had this knife all of my life. My dad said it was my mom’s, but died in an accident before he could tell me about her.” 

Oh no, poor Keith. That deserved a hug! Keith flustered and actually snarled a little, but a second later relaxed into the hug. He wanted it, clearly, but seemed almost afraid of wanting it. 

Ulaz ambled over to take a look at the knife, and his scent went startled and then shifted in recognition. “This blade belonged to one of our undercover agents. That agent did end up on Earth during a mission. If what your father told you is true, which I have no reason to doubt, then you’re a hybrid like Hunk is, and almost certainly his pouch-sibling.” 

“Pouch-sibling?” Hunk asked, torn between excitement (a brother!) and utter confusion. 

Ulaz nodded. “It’s not uncommon for offspring of different sires and brood-mothers to share the same pouch-mother. If a distinction needs to be made between siblings who share all of their parents, and those who share just a pouch-mother, that’s the word we use for the latter.” 

Hunk still hadn’t made sense of how someone who’d just nursed him was his actual genetic mom, but _aliens_ , and now he had a part-brother!

Keith wasn’t even focusing on that, though. His expression was intense, and his scent hurting and desperate. “Who is she? They? Where are they? Why did they leave me?” 

Ulaz hesitated, scent screaming conflict with himself. He stared at Keith for a long moment. “There are things I cannot, _will not_ tell you, because secrecy is the foundation of our order, and you are not a part of us, not yet. I can tell you that your mothers left Earth to protect you and the planet. If the Empire had discovered the location of the Blue Lion, invasion was inevitable. A disappearing scout would have attracted attention, but one that came back with a tale of a hazardous system and no sign of a Lion gave the Empire a reason not to keep searching the area.” 

“But the Empire _did_ find it; Shiro said so!” There was a petulant twist in Keith’s voice, and his eyes narrowed. 

“They did, because an inept commander wanted to conquer a system without risking his fleet,” Ulaz said, without a hint of emotion, even if his scent was unsettled, “as soon as I learned about that, I freed Shiro ahead of the planned rescue mission, and sacrificed my cover and my own mission to do so. I did it in hopes that he would be able to locate the Lion and keep it from the Empire’s grasp somehow. I have no regrets, especially not now.” 

Keith wasn’t entirely satisfied with that answer, and that was clear just from his expression, but the console lit up with an alert about docking. A couple minutes later Shiro, Pidge, and Lance came rushing in. Shiro looked away when he said that Allura had chosen to remain aboard the Castle. 

Pidge was nearly vibrating with excitement, and pulled Hunk aside. Hunk didn’t mind explaining what he’d done in the least, but it was _hard_ to turn his attention away from Ulaz and…

And the joeys smelled like they needed to be groomed again. Ulaz met his eyes from across the room and nodded towards the sanitation unit. 

Pidge glanced away when she realized what Hunk was doing, but curiosity had her looking back. She winced a little. “You know… A lot of guys would balk at it, but that can’t be comfortable. Have you ever thought about a bra?” 

A bra? Hunk was a little swollen still (at least it didn’t hurt nearly as much) but even without that, he did kinda have boobs. “I’ve never thought about it; never even occurred to me. It’s not a bad idea at all, but where am I gonna find a bra in space?” 

Pidge grinned and pushed up her glasses. “Leave it to me.” 

Something about her expression promised pain of the shopping trip kind (anything but clothes; clothes shopping was torture) and Hunk shuddered, not entirely theatrically. But he had joeys to groom, so he continued shucking off the top of the Blade-suit. That was about when Lance caught on. He looked so excited to see the joeys that Hunk didn’t have the heart to push him away. 

It wasn’t hard to reach into his pouch and run the sanitized cloth over the joeys. Lance cooed, at least until they pooped into the cloths, which Hunk promptly deposited into the sanitizing unit to be cleaned. But Lance wasn’t done, apparently, and was reaching out towards Hunk’s pouch and— No. Hunk wasn’t sure why just the thought had him in an overprotective near panic, but he slapped Lance’s hand away and actually surprised himself by snarling. 

Lance shot him the most heartbroken look but Ulaz had come over with Shiro, and put a firm hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Joeys are exceptionally vulnerable to infection at this stage. It awakens strong protective instincts against potential threats of exposure, like your unwashed hands. Please don’t take it personally.”

“Oh shit, I didn’t know, Hunk. No hard feelings?” Lance had the grace to go sheepish about it, and how could Hunk stay mad at that face? 

“Of course not, but let’s keep touching of the babies to a minimum until they’re a little older, okay?” Hunk kind of wanted to make Lance happy, but at the same time, the same instinct that had had him snarling was insisting that washed hands or not, Lance was still a threat. 

Lance was mollified, and then Shiro stepped up to announce that they had to destroy the base, and that Ulaz was coming with them in the Castle. Hunk mourned the loss of the base itself, which was a sleek wonder of mechanical design, but at the same time he understood that without the generator to cloak it, just having the base in existence was a threat to Ulaz’s group.

So with that in mind, Hunk offered to help Ulaz clear out all the important systems, and salvage as much as they could. Ulaz smiled back at him, and accepted the offer gratefully.

* * *

It didn’t take long to clear everything out, and Pidge was especially thrilled to get intercepted communications and prisoner records Ulaz had on hand. There was no guarantee that her dad or brother would be referenced in any of those, but even a slim hope was hope. 

Ulaz planted charges, and they all watched solemnly as the base blew to smithereens and took most of the system with it. Allura was refusing to look at Ulaz, and being coldly polite when she talked to him, but Hunk was sure she’d come to terms with her trauma eventually (what he wouldn’t give for a therapist though) and warm up to Ulaz. 

Ulaz himself was cautious around both Alteans, but warming up quite a bit to the rest of the Paladins. Shiro monopolized his time for a bit, probably asking questions about his lost memories, and Hunk busied himself setting up Ulaz’s new room. 

Lance offered to help with a sly grin, and about halfway through started in on questions. “Sooo… you and a Galra dude, huh? Was that your irreconcilable sexual difference that led to you breaking up with Bethany?” 

Oh Lance. Hunk rolled his eyes. “I’ve known I was pan since middle-school, and you were the first one I told. Me and Bethany didn’t work mostly because I’m a cuddler and she’s not, and maybe also because I couldn’t stand the smells of her cosmetics. To answer your real question, Ulaz and I aren’t dating. It was just one time and I don’t know if it will ever happen again.” 

Lance shrugged. “Sometimes people realize they’ve ended up a different orientation later on, so I figured I should ask. And I hear that tone, man. You _want_ to be dating Ulaz.” 

“I—“ But Hunk was blushing and he knew Lance wasn’t going to let it go. “I don’t know? I’m not opposed to the idea, but we don’t exactly know each other at all yet.” 

“And that’s why you unilaterally decided to put Ulaz’s room right next to yours,” Lance crowed, and elbowed Hunk gently. 

“I did not.” He totally had, hadn’t he? Oh no.

Lance slapped him on the back. “No worries! I will help you get the guy! With me on your side, you can’t fail.” 

“Lance, no.” Hunk whined, because Lance was an irrepressible flirt, and he loved Lance, but that kind of flirting didn’t really lend itself to long term relationships. Not that Hunk had much luck in that department either. But… He’d long suspected that his issues with dating were due to the part alien thing (having to hide his pouch had sucked) and Ulaz was an alien. So maybe he could venture out into the frigid waters of interspecies dating again and hope. Just maybe not by following Lance’s advice.

“Lance, yes!” 

Hunk groaned and buried his face in his hands. Why? 

Actually, why was he standing around now that the room was put together? Aha! A clever escape! “You… do that. Meanwhile I’m gonna go fix up dinner. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?”

Lance’s voice followed him down the hall. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing! But… you’re not wrong, so! Plan A is knock his socks off with some certified Hunk cooking! I’ll go get my kit; while you cook, we’ll make you the second most handsome guy on this castle!”

“Where did you even find skin-care products in space, do I even want to know?” 

Lance just laughed as he all but skipped down the hall.

* * *

Dinner went pretty well. Hunk maybe even thought there was a difference in his skin after Lance went at it (scent-free only; Hunk had insisted) although he also thought that Ulaz didn’t really care about things like that. The only hiccup was Allura’s obvious discomfort, which dampened everyone’s mood. Hunk felt bad, but had a feeling that attempting to help would only make it worse this time. It looked like Shiro and Coran were going to talk to her after anyway so, best to leave it be. 

After dinner, he showed Ulaz to his new room, blushed at the thanks and then… stood there like an idiot and fidgeted. Finally Ulaz raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you?” 

“I—Uh,” Hunk swallowed against the lump in his throat, “you already have, a lot! And I should really thank you for all the help, and the sex, which was great and— I mean— I’m not sure if that was just being nice, or if there’s a spark, I hope there’s a spark, because I think I might be starting to like you.” 

Breathing was a great thing, and Ulaz was wearing a look of slow realization, but smelled almost happy. Hunk barreled forward before he lost the rest of his nerves. “So… date? I mean, spending time and getting to know each other at least, even if it’s just friends, because you’re just great and I want to be your friend even if nothing else ever happens between us, and—“

A fingertip on his lips stopped Hunk before he could embarrass himself further. “I think you’re a fine man, honorable and good, and I would also like to get to know you better. I also find you incredibly attractive so I…” For the first time, Ulaz seemed less that completely sure of himself, “would like to try this date, and perhaps more at some point.” 

Hunk noticed that he’d been leaning in during all this, feeling hope and joy blaze up brightly in his chest and he could just cuddle the hell out of Ulaz right now (that would probably lead to sex, because Hunk wasn’t stupid, but he was finding it hard to care) and Ulaz leaned too. 

Then stiffened. “Although at the moment, our hormones are encouraging us to let caution and logic fall by the wayside. I’m brooding, and you’ve been flooded with carrying hormones to compensate for a lack of a slower, more natural transition to pouch-mothering. Both of those states have been known to encourage more reckless actions.” 

“Right. I totally get that.” Hunk was very aware that he wasn’t moving from the doorway, and Ulaz’s smell had shifted to that wetter, _amazing_ scent that Hunk figured was arousal. “I also definitely get what you mean by encouraging reckless actions. So I figure we have a choice. We can be logical adults and back off even though we don’t want to, and try things again when we’re clear headed, or we can let what happens, happen, and figure out if we regret anything later.” 

So being really turned on did wonders for his confidence; who knew? Ulaz smelled startled in response, but then laughed. “I’m forever being chided by the others for being reckless. Would you like to come in?” 

Yes. So very yes. (Was he going to regret this in the morning? …maybe. Did he care right now? Nope!)

“I’d love to.”


End file.
